The present invention relates to a refrigerated merchandiser that includes a light source. More particularly, the present invention relates to a refrigerated merchandiser including a light emitting diode (LED) light source to illuminate a product display area.
In conventional practice, commercial businesses such as supermarkets and convenience stores are equipped with refrigerated merchandisers. These refrigerated merchandisers may be open or provided with doors and are used for presenting perishable food or beverages to customers while maintaining the fresh food or beverages in a refrigerated environment. Typically, these refrigerated merchandisers include a light source to illuminate the product display area for better marketing of the food product and for higher visibility to the customers.
Conventional refrigerated merchandisers typically include a fluorescent light source to illuminate the product display area. Some refrigerated merchandisers include fluorescent light sources coupled to a canopy of the refrigerated merchandiser to direct light generally downward onto the food product in the product display area. These refrigerated merchandisers also may include fluorescent light sources attached to shelves in the product display area. Generally, the fluorescent light sources used in conventional refrigerated merchandisers are relatively large, and can reduce the amount of space in the refrigerated merchandiser that can be allocated to displaying food product.
The effectiveness of fluorescent light sources is dependent on the temperature of the application where the fluorescent light sources are used. In colder temperature conditions, the fluorescent light source has less light output than in application of the fluorescent light source in warmer temperature conditions. As a result, fluorescent light sources that are coupled to the shelves can have substantially reduced effective illumination of food product within the product display area.
Some refrigerated merchandisers include light emitting diode (LED) light sources to illuminate the product display area. These LED light sources generally operate at a relatively high current (e.g., 300 mA), which produces a substantial amount of heat that can adversely affect the temperature of the food product in the product display area. The large amount of heat produced by these LED light sources can adversely affect the effective life of the light source.
Replacing light sources in existing refrigerated merchandisers can be relatively complex and inefficient. Generally, refrigerated merchandisers must be modified to accommodate a replacement light source from a different manufacturer. Often, additional holes are needed in the existing canopy and/or shelves to adapt the existing refrigerated merchandiser to the replacement light source, which can increase the complexity of the assembly process and the time needed to replace the light source.